Many of us in the journalism industry have been hesitant to embrace new technologies because of the sometimes negative impact on our jobs.  Television stations have cut jobs or permanetly eliminated positions after company executives found ways to have computers perform tasks instead.  Many photographer positions have been cut over the years with the development of lighter, easier to use cameras that could be operated by reporters.  And now, with camera and video phones in everyone’s back pocket, there are more and more “public” journalists.

All of these changes have had me and many others concerned about the direction of the industry, but after seeing images from the protests in Iran, I think my opinion is changing somewhat.

If it weren’t for camera phones and the Internet, the world might not be witness to the violent events that have followed the presidential election in Iran.  Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are the vehicles for freedom of speech for the Iranian demonstrators.  The photos and videos are powerful.  If you haven’t checked them out yet, you should.

I also find it encouraging that computer engineers from across the globe are doing what they can to break down the electronic walls put up by the repressive Iranian government.   I hope the violence will stop, but if it doesn’t I hope the Iranian people will always have a way of telling their stories to the world.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.